Walk On
I am descending from the mountain top
Into the valley of the ordinary
How quickly the descent
Like a passing cloud of a dream
How unreal it all seems now
Alone, when only 24 hours ago
I had been warmed and comforted
By the comfort of new friends who had become family
When not so long ago
Had spoken of revelations and reassurances
So clearly and confidently
Had made these heavenly glimpses real
Through conference and prayer
The air has already grown colder, stiller,
and heavier
The weight of everything begins to matter
again.
I try to take deep breaths to measure myself,
my thoughts, my life
My heart is already looking back
Trembling and fearful and wanting to return
Dreaming of that passing light
That had come and gone to warm me for a while
And having done so, had sent me on my way.
I try to conjure up images of my new precious friends, these angels,
and cling on to the notes they had written for me
All that I have left in my hands
That reminds me that they existed, that we met
that I had been so loved.
Already I have to
Discipline this wayward heart
Not to yearn to see them so quickly
For the high of being heard and affirmed and validated
Nor to hanker after the strength and beauty they embody
In their own long and surely difficult journeys
And certainly not to
Rely on them
In ways that I should not.
My weak heart
And my faint spirit
You cannot walk on like this.
You have already hit the gravel roads
and feel the grit beneath your feet.
You have to begin now
And do what you’d said
Now.
To walk with eyes heavenward
With heart somehow tender
With spirit somehow humble
With clean hands
And a purer love
So walk on
with your certain faithful companion
Without whom you should never make it.
Walk on.
It will be ok.
